Chip Coffey: A Breakdown

Basic Info:

Chip Coffey is a self proclaimed psychic originally from Elmira, NY, now living in Atlanta, GA. He has worked on numerous television shows and specials, as well as participated in shows playing someone other than himself. Unlike, some of our other featured psychics in this series of articles, Coffeys work has been put under the microscope in big ways. 

Skepticism From The Beginning:

In 2009, Coffey was awarded the James Randi Education Foundations Pigasus Award for quote, "the psychic who tricked the most people with the least effort." Reportedly, Coffey also "stormed out" of the FFXN-FM morning show studio after the host brought up his skepticism. Later, in 2014, the Bay Area Skeptics showed up to a group seance hosted by Coffey and planted falsified stories of fictitious dead relatives to Coffeys staff. As the evening went on, Coffey claimed to be perfectly communicating with said fake family members, according to sting organizer Susan Gerbic. 

Television Shows:

Coffey has participated in a variety of shows, "documentaries", and scripted movies. Below you'll find a short list of his most well known shows and appearances. 

Paranormal State (2007-2011)
Psychic Kids (2008- )
Kindred Spirits (2016-2017)
Exorcism: LIVE! (2015)

Prices:

Coffey has been criticized not only for his shady reading methods and questionable behavior and choices, but for his prices as well. Coffey offers 3 types of readings, as listed below:

Psychic Reading (or personal consultation) $200 / 20-30 min
Spirit Contact $500 / 30-45 min
Combination Reading $650 / aprox. 45 min

ASAP Readings:

General $400 / 20-30 min
Mediumship $700
Combination $850

The prices are not only outrageous but they are that of a scammer. By no means, does anyone need to charge people that much or make this their sole means of income, as Coffey has used as an excuse for his sky high prices. Because he has "bills to pay." Well, my answer to him, is, so do your poor clients that are seeking help. 

My Own Experience With Chip Coffey:

The series of following photos will show a disturbing trend in how he treats anyone who dares to question him even a little. I am not the only one to receive this unacceptable and suspicious treatment from Coffey. 

 
 





















Conclusion and Rating: Rating based on a 5 star system (1* = 1 star)

Truthfulness: **
Transparency:*
Accuracy:*
Specificity:** (only gets specifics due to having a staff that speaks to audience, does research, much like Caputo)
Client Interaction: *
Price: 0
Consistency:**
Ability to help people:*
Overall: 1.25 stars

Do I endorse or recommend him? NO.

Amy Allen : A Breakdown

Basic Info:

Amy Allan is a physical medium who was born in Colorado in 1973. She began to experience the paranormal at a young age, recalling her experiences with shadow people as early as four years old. Later, she attended the University of Arizona and earned a degree in Psychology.


Before The Dead Files:

Amy is a natural born medium, and while she has experienced the paranormal almost all her life, she did not begin using her abilities professionally until the age of twenty. She has been tested not only by parapsychologists, but by police detectives. She has assisted detectives in their understanding of their own intuition. She studies other people and their abilities, while helping them understand them and serving the public.

Allan has previously worked with the Discovery Channel, TLC and similar networks, both as an on air guest and a behind the scenes consultant.

More Than A Ghost Buster:

On top of her degree in psychology, Allan also practices alternative medicine, including but not limited to the following:
Acupuncture
Asian medicine
Zen Shiatsu
Western Massage

Through these practices, degree and her abilities, she helps people overcome their emotional and physical ailments and issues.

The Dead Files:

TDF debuted on September 23rd 2011 and is still on air. The show revolves around Amy Allan and her partner Steve Deschavi, who investigate various locations. Allan uses her mediumship abilities and Steve, a retired cop, finds historical information about each location and town.

Critics of Allan and the show seem to have common, understandable things to say about both. Some of the issues brought up include accusations of staging, use of scripts, overdramatic reactions, non specific readings and questions like, "Why is EVERY location they go to haunted?" and "Why are there SO many negative hauntings?" "Why the same type of spirits?"

All valid questions and concerns, and I do agree with that to a certain level. While I do understand that some of her readings can get repetitive, viewers need to keep in mind that this is a TV show and does follow a formula of sorts, in order to be successful and retain its viewership. While I don't have an answer for why the same type of entities seem to pop up in almost every location, all I can say is that there are more negative energies out there than people would like to think or admit, unfortunately.

As for "Why is every location haunted?", well, my counter question would be : "Why air an episode where they didn't experience anything?"

I do tend to blame the production here more than Amy or Steve, having dealt with the production and crew myself over the phone. The woman I spoke to seemed more interested in my case fitting specific criteria in order for her to allow Amy to help me. Therefore, I cannot blame Amy for this.


My Own Issues With Amy:

First, I will list my basic, not so serious issues with Amy. First, I do not agree with her idea that everyone is psychic, nor do I personally agree with using that term especially as a public figure, because of the connotation and misunderstanding that comes along with. I also think that some of her readings are a little rough around the edges at time, which is true of all mediums, so this isnt a jab at her by any means, what I do mean, though, is that sometimes I feel she reaches for something to blame for the haunting, such as the presence of "aliens" or "unknown creatures". Could she be correct in saying that the things she's encountering are, in fact, alien or aline like? Perhaps. But I feel she's mentioned aliens a bit too often, as actual alien or alien like encounters are incredibly rare. Public, well known mediums need to be very careful with how and what they put out, in terms of terminology, description, etc. But again, these are just some of my personal preferences and thoughts and dont necessarily discredit her at all.

Now, this next issue Ill get into is much more serious, and has ramifications beyond the show, and beyond the paranormal field. Amy, on numerous occasions, has referenced, mentioned, spoken of and blamed "curses" and Native American spirits for negative occurrences in some of the homes she has investigated.

There are multiple episodes and mentions of curses and the need to bring in a Shaman to cleanse the home and land. These types of depictions reinforce tension and misunderstanding between Natives and Non- Natives. Why is the misrepresentation of us a point of entertainment? Why must we always be shown in a scary or negative light? Why is Amy telling people to have Shamans come to their homes to “fix it”?

This contributes to mystical ideas about Natives. It also tokenizes us and portrays our cultures as watered down and whitewashed. It suggests we don’t have distinct cultures and contributes to others seeing us as something of the past.And it reinforces the idea that we’re all “gone” with the exception of their mystical image of us, aka the Shaman. These types of tropes and depictions contribute directly to violence against Natives, and if I could, I would urge Amy to be very careful of how she's partaking in this problematic practice. She is a great medium, and it saddens me to see her say these things on national, international television.

Eps of The Dead Files that play into the “Native Burial Ground” trope:
Season 3 Ep 11 “Blood In The Bordello”
Season 3 Ep 21 “Deadly Grounds”
Season 3 Ep 22 “Evil Underground”
Season 3 Ep 31 “Battleground” (specific mention of Saginaw Chippewa)
Conclusion and Rating: (rating based on a 5 star system, 1 * = 1 star)To sum up, I think Amy is a wonderful medium and has helped many people. Though I dont always agree with some of the things she says or does, due to personal cultural practices and identity.

Truthfulness: ***
Transparency: ***
Accuracy: ****
Specificity: ****
Client Interaction: ****
Price: (no accurate/specific info found)
Consistency: ***
Ability to help people: ****
Average/Overall rating: 3.5 stars
Do I endorse or recommend her? YES (I endorse her abilities)

Theresa Caputo : A Breakdown

General Information:

Theresa Caputo is a 51 year old, self proclaimed psychic who became famous through her television show The Long Island Medium (on TLC)in 2011. She has two children and is recently separated from her former husband Larry. She claims she channels what she calls "Spirit" through her chakras and can control who and what type of information / spirits / energies connect with her. 

The Live Experience:

According to various sources, phones are not allowed to be on or out during the live shows. Multiple people have said they are vigilant about keeping peoples phones away. Another thing that left fans disappointed is Caputo's decision to push subscriptions for her "fan club" ($19.99) before beginning the live readings. During these "live experiences", she spouts general information and vague feelers until someone shows a visual or auditory response. She has not been seen walking up to anyone and relaying specific, detailed information. She asks questions and looks for objects in peoples hands / jewelry, etc and waits for a response from someone in the audience, especially if multiple people react to her vague starters. 

The generalized starters and feelers only turn more specific when she gets a clear reaction. An example from an article on Phillymag.com below:

"Did he write you a note shortly before he died saying IM SORRY?"

When there is no positive or affirming response, she will begin to back track, like so;

"The next time youre in a card store and you see a card that says IM SORRY, know that this is from him."

Some former fans even say that the live experience "was like pulling teeth" to make a genuine connection with an audience member. There was another alleged incident of the TLC crew grilling a guest on Long Island Medium about her deceased husband before she could film with Caputo and now thinks Theresa is a phony.

Her Methods and Excuses:

Caputo claims that she channels "Spirit" through her chakras and her "brain goes blank so I'm clearly channeling". She also claims to have been "brain tested", so her abilities MUST be true! 

One thing I and others have noticed is that she all too often acts like a therapist or grief counselor to her clients, when really she is giving nothing more than general, cliche comfort. 

"I always say it is not my fault or spirits fault that there are only so many ways that people can die and common burdens and guilt that we might carry." - Caputo

This seems like a huge cop-out to me. She is contradicting herself, saying on one hand she can completely control what and who connects with her and only allowing positive information to come through. Then back tracking again, saying she cannot help that she can only give general info and spews the same things to all her clients. Pick one and stick with it! As many actual mediums or people with abilities will tell you they cannot control who or what connects with them or what type of info comes out.

A former psychic has also claimed that Caputo is a "piggy backer", which means she back tracks and reconstructs her readings after she is told she missed the mark. 

Though she claims to make a difference in peoples lives and claims to truly help them, giving them false information and cliche comfort may not be truly helpful in the long run. If anyone was truly touched and helped by her, by all means, that's wonderful. But she isn't accurate or consistent enough for me. 

So, to sum this section up, Caputo is cold reader and may also be utilizing hot reading techniques (gaining info before meetings).

What others are saying:

Some guests that appeared on the show claim that Caputo is cold and ignores her fans off camera. Pushing past guests and making them re-do scenes to her liking. 

Howard Stern even claims that Caputo made outlandish demands in regard to her would-have-been appearance on his show. He also claims she demanded 45 minutes to an hour alone with the audience before filming could begin. 

"The Long Island psychic is not a psychic!" - Howard Stern


Conclusion and Rating: (rating based on a 5 star system one * = 1 star)

Truthfulness: **
Transparency: **
Accuracy: *
Specificity: *
Client Interaction: **
Price: * 
Consistency: *
Ability to help people: **
Average/Overall rating: 1.5 stars

Do I endorse or recommend her? NO

(The only information I could find on her prices were that private readings were between $50 and $175. Ticket prices vary as do group reading rates. However I have read elsewhere that she may charge by the hour and / or go up to $500 per reading)

The Issue With Orbs

Orbs: Orbs are often thought to be solid evidence or manifestations of spirits or spirit activity. Many self proclaimed gurus, ghost hunters and psychics will claim that they see or capture orbs in pictures and videos. However, there is little to no definitive evidence to suggest its paranormal in any way.

Orbs are not a clear signifier of spirit activity nor are they accepted as admissible proof of a haunting or activity to any reputable mediums, spiritual investigators, or the like. Unfortunately, unlike tv, spirits don’t really form in balls (orbs) or circle around us. They are energy, yes, but there’s no proof of them actually manifesting this way. Most likely this is dust, bugs, a camera glitch, lighting issue, particles in the air, etc. so many variables can cause what LOOKS like an “orb” when in fact it’s something completely mundane or normal.

Photos or video taken in dim rooms using flash or light from the camera, can cause orb-like shapes to appear. I’ve seen many photos and videos like this and even had it happen to myself. Below you'll find a prime example of false orbs in a picture of a group of my friends in a basement with low lighting, flash and other odd light sources. And there’s actually nothing spirit related in the basement.

Common factors that come across as so called orbs are as follows:

DUST

INSECTS

MOISTURE IN THE AIR/ROOM

LIGHT

LENS FLARE

There is an excellent article, with visual examples on Exemplore.com entitled "Tips On Debunking Orbs". (Author: L Sarhan)

False orbs can occur with ANY type of camera! It is commonly believed that you can totally avoid the getting false evidence with a polaroid or old camera, but this is not true. Both modern, digital, or vintage cameras can pull up orb like figures and give you false evidence. 

Orbs are also claimed so often that it seems every other day someone believes they've captured groundbreaking evidence of the haunting they think is happening in their house, or evidence of an urban legend apparition. This is problematic and makes the paranormal far too accessible, in a not so good way. It causes misinformation and surrounds the topic in an over simplified mysticism, like a child's fairytale. These ideas have been amplified by shows like Ghost Adventures, who routinely showcase orbs as "evidence" of what they were seeking. 

My best advice? Be very weary of orbs or anything captured on camera that looks like a photo chemical burn. (Example below)

First attempt at homemade ROSE WATER

Homemade Rose Water Recipe

4-8 cups of distilled/clean water (amount of water depends on how much you want to make)

Fresh roses of your choice ( I used yellow because they have significant meaning, I also added fresh lilac petals from my lilac bushes )

*Make sure that the roses / any flowers you use DO NOT have pesticides on them! 

Essential Oils (optional)

I personally used the following essential oils:

White Angelica

Ginger

Lemon

*All essential oils must be food grade / therapeutic grade. Make sure all oils and ingredients used are up to standard and totally safe

Bring water up to a simmer and add flowers

Simmer the flowers until they begin to lose their color and wilt

Add a few drops of essential oils (optional)

Simmer for about 5 more minutes to incorporate the oils

Take off the heat and let it cool

I personally left the petals in while the mixture cooled

Drain the mixture and bottle the rose water 

I used a spray bottle and a mason jar

*Always spot test and avoid ingredients you are or may be allergic to

*I added a small pinch of salt just to keep the mixture from molding / spoiling

Herbal Teas - Cloud Walking Tea by Nuwati Herbals

During my recent trip to the Foxwoods Reserve and Casino, I picked up a couple of teas I found in one of the shops that featured native made products and mostly native owned businesses, which is refreshing to see!

I came across some bottles of tea by Nuwati Herbals. The first tea I picked up was the Cloud Walking Tea. I am someone who has quite a bit of trouble sleeping and staying asleep, so I was happy to find something natural that might help me out. 

What I really enjoy about this particular tea is that the effects of it are slow releasing. In other words, youre not going to be suddenly knocked out after drinking it or have the heavy grogginess and confusion that sometimes comes with fast relating sleep aides or other teas like this. 

The recommended serving size is 1 tablespoon per cup of tea. I found this amount of tea to be a little too strong for me, so I cut it down to about half a tablespoon and this worked perfectly. 

The taste is very floral and earthy. I did notice that the finishing note on this tea is quite bitter, at least to me. So, I personally add a little bit of sugar, honey, agave, cherry juice, whatever type of natural sweetener I have on hand. I personally add about a teaspoon or two and it cuts the bitter flavor just enough where its not so strong or noticeable. 

Nuwati Herbals only features loose teas, so I recommend either purchasing one of their tea bags or using one of your own tea infusers. However, I do recommended making sure that the infuser has much smaller holes / strainer to prevent bits of the leaves from getting into your tea if youre using your own. Using a mesh strainer is also a good idea if you have one. 

An Intro To Aromatherapy : Common/ Most Accessible Essential Oils

For this introduction to aromatherapy I will introduce to you, a few of the most common, accessible essential oils that you can use to get started in the world of aromatherapy and cleansing. 


1. Lavender : Lavender can be very calming and help you with sleep. I would recommend you use it carefully or sparingly as for myself and many others, too much of this oil or scent can cause a headache. 

2. Chamomile : Most of you know Chamomile in the form of a tea. In the form of an oil, it can have the same calming, restful effects. that a tea will give you. It has a very earthy scent and is great when mixed with other complimentary oils. 

*I will provide a quick guide on how to mix or combine oils safely, effectively, in another post*

3. Rosemary : This oil is more invigorating and uplifting than the first two mentioned. This is another earthy, woodsy scent and is great when used with a mixer or carrier oil. This oil can be used in a diffuser (as all other oils can be), or with a carrier oil when used directly on the skin for massage purposes. 

*Carrier oils should be mixed with any essential oil when you put it directly on the skin. Carrier oils (such as almond oil, for one example) dilute the essential oil enough so it has a lower chance of it causing a reaction on your skin, or being too overpowering.*

4. Lemon : Lemon is another invigorating and refreshing scent. Often used in face washes, to act as a wake up or pick me up in the morning. Lemon oil as an obvious citrusy, vibrant and light floral scent to it. Lemon itself is antibacterial as well, which is why its in so many skincare and cleaning products. 

5. Frankincense : This is a very deep, warm scent. It is quintessential in cleansing your home and is commonly used. To some, Frankincense is considered holy or scared. I suggest you use this oil with a carrier oil or in a diffuser, as it can be very strong / potent if used on its on or if you use too much. This oil is believed to help with respiratory issues, so it can be used in a hot bath or as a massage oil. 

6. Peppermint : Peppermint is fresh, distinct and refreshing. It can permeate a room instantly if it is clean and fresh. Mint is believed to help with digestion or stomach aches. Some people use peppermint to rid their home of insects and pests, but my favorite use for it is in aromatherapy. A few drops in a steaming shower or hot bath, mixed with a carrier oil to help alleviate sore muscles, or in a diffuser so it can permeate the air and slowly lead you into a cooling state.